Bessent: Treasury Has Backed Adding Megaspeed to the Blacklist for Months

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent revealed that the Treasury Department has for months supported adding Singapore-based cloud computing services company Megaspeed to the list of restricted entities, in remarks he made to CNBC.

Bessent said that the Treasury Department, the Department of Defense, the Office of the US Trade Representative and the State Department had all for months backed adding Megaspeed to the Entity List, adding that "the authority in this file rests with the Bureau of Industry and Security" (BIS) at the Commerce Department. Bessent noted that questions about its internal procedures should be directed to that office.

Bessent noted that US President Donald Trump has stated publicly that China must not obtain advanced Nvidia chips — particularly the H100 model and above — pointing out that leaking these chips to China harms the standing of American companies in the artificial intelligence race and gives Beijing a strategic advantage. He added that there are "fundamental gaps" in the system restricting chip exports to China, and that work is underway to close them. He noted that the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) likewise has the authority to add Megaspeed to its own restriction lists.

On the Nvidia front, fast-moving events revealed the dimensions of the case: on November 8, the company's board of directors announced the opening of an independent investigation following reports that CEO Jensen Huang was targeted by foreign intelligence, against the backdrop of his alleged relationship with a former Megaspeed official named Alice Huang who is accused of working for Chinese intelligence and transferring information to Beijing, according to what The New York Times published. Later, Nvidia announced that Jensen Huang had been separated from his executive duties and the chairmanship with immediate effect, and appointed Colette Kress, the former vice president and chief financial officer, as interim CEO.

Bessent stressed the need to examine Nvidia's sales to verify whether it had sold chips to front companies, considering that accountability should extend to everyone who bears responsibility in this file.